The Iroquois Group® began in 1977 when independent property and casualty agents in central New York saw the advantage of banding together to improve their position with, and access to, insurance carriers. "Independent agents faced many pressures and threats back then," said Iroquois founder, Paul Branch (left), "just as they do now. We started Iroquois with the idea that independent agents could successfully join together, not just to survive but to thrive."
An insurance network providing independent insurance agents nationwide with property, casualty, and liability products. Iroquois Group provides insurance agents a network of providers across the United States.
An insurance network providing independent insurance agents nationwide with property, casualty, and liability products. Iroquois Group provides insurance agents a network of providers across the United States.
An insurance network providing independent insurance agents nationwide with property, casualty, and liability products. Iroquois Group provides insurance agents a network of providers across the United States.
An insurance network providing independent insurance agents nationwide with property, casualty, and liability products. Iroquois Group provides insurance agents a network of providers across the United States.
Do you 'throw away' too many referrals?
A producer I was working with was ecstatic one hot summer day because he had just obtained 10 referrals from a client. I was excited too and the producer was going to begin working those new referrals right away.
Well, in tracking the success of those 10 referrals, only one got written. Is that good or just normal? Let's just say, both of us felt it should have been better. So, analyzing what took place led to the following results:
* 2 were not reachable; the producer never connected with the decision-maker.
* 2 were messy businesses that the producer realized would be declined if submitted
* 3 had strong to severe loss issues
* 1 failed to provide all the needed information
* 1 was presented, but not sold
* 1 was sold
Could this one out of 10 scenario have been prevented? That is what we took it upon ourselves to evaluate. The first evaluation made was really there were only three the producer was either able to, or wanted to, quote. So, of that group, he was really one for three.
But, what about the rest of the referrals - the ones not quoted? Preventable? In our analysis, many of those were preventable so that you wouldn't end up with 70 percent being "thrown away."
The two that the producer was unable to reach were determined to be a problem based on the "introduction" he got from his client to those two prospects. (Note: You do ask to be introduced, don't you, when you obtain a referral?) The person calling their customer (our prospect) from the business was not someone known to them and thus, the call carried little weight. It was not a powerful introduction; it wasn't even a lukewarm introduction, so it was not surprising the producer couldn't get an appointment following that call.
The five that were either messy businesses or had heavy losses weren't quality businesses. Was that the luck of the draw and he just accepted that when he asked for referrals, or could
Iroquois Group has more than 2,250 Independent insurance agencies of all shapes and sizes. Iroquois insurance group is a service provider for independent property and casualty insurance agencies.
Iroquois Group members in New England now have access to a leading wholesaler, XS Brokers, for commercial casualty, property, inland and ocean marine, garage/transportation, professional/management liability, environmental, umbrella and personal lines solutions.
The Iroquois Group® started more than 39 years ago with five independent insurance agencies trying to bolster each other in a competitive marketplace. They succeeded. And then some.
Today, The Iroquois Group has more than 2,250 member agencies of all shapes and sizes. Despite their diversity, each joined Iroquois® - without giving up their independence - for assistance with Market Optimization and strategies to increase revenue, profits and agency value.